Press toggle



Dec. 9, l924. 1,518,527

J. C. LEDBETTER PRESS TOGGLE Filed Sept. 2. 1920 W/lllll Suva/44 tof,

Patented Dec. 9, 1924. i

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES C. LEDBETTER, OF VBR-OOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, T UNITED STATES HOFFMAN KACHIINEBY CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK,

N. Y., A CORFORATION OF DELAWARE PRESS roGGLE.

Appllicatio meld September 2, 1920., Seria1`No. 407,698.v

To all whom t 'may'-cmwem:

' Be it known that I, JAMES C. LnDnryrrrn,,z-

acitizen of the United' States, lresiding at the borough of Brooklyn, city of New York,

in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements vin a..Press Toggle, of which the following is a'speciication.l f

This invention relates to press toggles, and

more particularly to improvements -in toggle leverages andsimilar mechanism employed to operate the pressing head of garment.

press or the platen of presses.

An object of this invention-is to produce' an improved type of toggle mechanism, or

leverage for use 1n connection with presses of all kinds, or even machines of other classes, which develops great power at the expenditure of minimum energy applied by the operator to the toggle so as to obtain great pressure on'the pressing head or platen of presses.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 illustrates one type of press` which' uses a 'toggle mechanism of the character forming the subject matter of this invention; and Fig. 2 shows a modified or elementary construction of the toggle removed from` the press but shown in connection with the press "lever and head.

A toggle leverage for resses constructed in accordance with the p ans of this invention employs one simple toggle linkage which' is connected. to the 'parts of the machine to be worked under pressure, as for example the press lever' of the garment press, and which is likewise connected to a prime mover such as a foot lever or othery suitable device. A connection is established between the toggle andthe prime mover for the purpose of straightening the toggle whereupon the toggle acts as astrut thru which force is trans mitted to exert pressing operations. A feature of the invention resides in means for causing the pressing head or platen to close very rapidly with an expenditure of minimum power, followed by a slow motion pressing operation of great -power developed thru the high vlevera. e ratio obtained with a toggle mechanism o -this character.

` the In presenting a more completer disclosure of the invention, there 'is shown a frame 4 on' whicleisfulcrumcd the press lever 5 on one end of whichis mounted the usualtype of pressing `head 6 and on `the other end of whichis attached the toggle leverage deviceV y cOIIIPIlSlng this invention.

A simple :toggle 4comprises links 8- I pivoted. together at 10. The upper end of the4 toggle 1s pivoted at'll to the press lever 5,l and 1n some instances the upper end of thetoggle is attached to an adjustment screw device 12 ordinarily used to vary the pressing coaction between the head 6 and the object to be pressed or treated. 65A` A foot lever 14 is fulcrumed at,15 in the frame 4, and this 'lever 14 has an upstandin arm 16 operating as an integral part the'reo The foot lever 14 and arm 16 are therefore; made in the form of a bell crank, and as later seen performs the double function ofv both straightening thetoggle 8-9 and exerting thrust upwardly'thru the' toggle. A spring 13 has one end thereof attached to the frame 4 'and the other end attached to the 75 foot lever 14 so as to return the foot lever t to an upwardly normal positionwhen the machine-*is not in operation. A short lever arm 17 is also'fulcrumed onA in 15 and capable of motion thereon relatively to the foot lever 14 and the lower part of the toggle is pivotally supported by this lever arm. The short lever arm 17 may' 'bemade with ahprojecting part 18, which is pivotally confined between 'the bifurcated part 23 of the foot lever 14 so that these two lever elements 1'4 and 17 form a continuous and one piece lever capable of either working together, or having slight relative motion one to the other about the Apin 15 at certain stages of operation. The lever 'arm 17 is made with a shoulder 19 which rests against a stop 20 when itrdoes not rest a ainst the foot lever, thereby limiting the ownward movement of the lever arm 17. A shoulder 21 is made on the foot lever 14 and disposed ,i radially in respect to the fulcrumed point 15 so that this shoulder abuts the shoulder 19 them work together as an inte ral and one piece lever during one stage of t e operation, and during another stage of the operation the two parts 17 and 14 have relative motion one on the other.

A link 24 is pivotally connected at 25 to one of the links of the toggle 8 9, and this link has a slot 25 made in the other end thereof, which slot is formed concentric with the foot lever fulcrurn point 15. One end of the slot 25 terminates in an offset shoulder 26, and a pin 27 is anchored to the arm 16 and confined in the slot 25 so as to normally rest against the shoulder 26. The front end of the link 24 is made in the form of an inclined plane or cam 28, and a roller 29 is carried on the 'frame 4 and in contact with the cam 28 to support the link 24. The roller 29 therefore acts as a support and guide for the front end of the link 24. A spring 30 has one end connected to some point of the link 24 and the other end thereof connected to the arm16 which acts to keep the link 24 in downward contact with the roller 29 and to confine the pin 27 in its resting place against the shoulder 26.

In the operation of the toggle leverage above set forth and illustrated in Fig. 1, the operator applies pressure on the foot lever piece 22 which oscillates the bell crank arm 16, moves the link 24 forward thus bringing the toggle 8 9 into approximately straightened position, with the cam 28 resting upon the roller 29; and likewise the shoulder 21 of the foot lever engages the shoulder 19 of the lever armi 17. In this manner the press -lever 5 is swung about its fulcrumed point to bring the head 6 downwardly against the bed of the press. During the motion of parts just described, it vis to be noted that comparatively little effort was necessarily exerted on the foot lever 14, and furthermore the press lever 5 was swung at a comparatively rapid rate. During this movement of the parts, the bell crank arm 16 and the link 24 are the active elements which straighten the toggle 8 9 and swing the press lever and head 6 into pressing position, yet these active elements do not nec'- essarily exert any great degree of leverage against the press lever 5.

The actual pressing operation'immediately follows after the machine parts have reached that stage of movelnent above described and shown in Fig. 1. The operator A continues downward pressure on the foot piece 22 which thrusts the link 24 slightlyv forward to complete the straightening action of the toggle 8 9 and which action causes this toggle to move slightly past its center line; and simultaneously with this motion the cam 28 rides upon the roller` 29 thus disengaging the shoulder 26 from the pin 27. This disengagement of parts permits the pin 27 to move freely in the slot 25,

and at the-same time it is to be noted that the forked end of the link 24 now rests firmly against thc roller 29 and therefore braces the toggle 8 9 against further sidewise or lateral movement. Inasmiuch as the toggle 8 9 has reached a position slightly beyond a line drawn thru its pivotal centers and is restrained against further movement due to .the bracing action of the link 24, the toggle 8 9 now functions as a strut thru which high pressure may be transmitted to the press lever.

By the time this cycle of operation is reached, the shoulder 21 has contacted the shoulder 19, which in effect resolves the two parts 14 and 17 into one and a single lever, with the short end 17 and the long end 14 of such comparative lever length ratio as to give the lever end 14 a very high leverage over the lever end 17 The operator is therefore able to exert great fol'ce thru the strut toggle 8 9, and as he works up and down on the foot piece 22 to execute pressingl movements of the head 6 down on the press bed, the pin 27 floats freely back and forth in the slot 25 which does not effect the stationary bracing position of the link 24.

After the operator has completed the pressing operation and removed his weight from the foot piece 22, the spring 13 acts to return .all parts to normal inactive position, thus causing the toggle 8 9 to break rearwardly, and letting the lever arm 17 drop downwardly against the stop 20.

One of the advantages in constructing the foot lever 14-17 in two parts is that the bell crank 14-16 is permitted to complete its function, that of straightening the toggle 8 9, prior to the inception of the upward thrust thru the toggle; and this is an advantage because the toggle cannot transmit thrust until it has reached its straightened position.

Referring now to Figure 2 in the drawings, it is noted that the construction of the mechanism is similar to that hereinbeforc described, but that the foot lever 32 is made integral with the lever arm 83. The foot lever likewise has the upstanding arm 34 and a connecting link 35 pivotally joining the bell crank 32 34 with the toggle 8-9.

The operation of this leverage mechanism is quite similar to the operation of the mechanism previously described, but with the exception that the lever arm 33 is thrusting upwardly on the toggle 8 9 sin'iultaneously with the straightening action of the hell crank 32 34 exerted against the toggle.

Furthermore the bell crank arm 34 does not have 'a disengageable connection with the link 35 which causes the toggle 8 9 to oscillate slightly during final pressing aetion. But it is pointed out that a disengageable connection may be provided between the parts 34 and 35 which would produce an platen raised or lowered by a press lever or equivalent means, comprising a foot lever fulcrumed in the pressv frame, an upstanding arm made a part Vof the lever, a toggle pivotally connected with the aforesaid press lever, and connecting means established be` tween the toggle and upstandlng arm whereby the toggle is straightened by working the foot lever through a portion of its path of movement, and. additional connecting means established between the foot lever and the toggle whereby a further and final movement of the foot lever produces an upward thrust through the toggle.

2. n a press, the combination of a presshead; a lever supporting the same; a toggle,

one end of which is connected to the supporting lever for swinging said lever; a foot lever; a lost motion connection between the foot lever and the toggle for straightening the latter; and a second lost motion connection between the foot lever and the toggle for applying thrust to the toggle after the same has been straightened.

3. An operating mechanism for presses` l l of the type having co-operating pressing members movable one inrelation to the other, a toggle connected with one of the pressing'members and adapted to open the press when broken and close the press when straightened, a bell-crank for stralghtenlng the toggle and closing the press under moderate pressure, and a lever arm carrled by the bell crank to move the stralghtened togi gle to impose high pressure on the press.

4. An operating mechanism for presses of the type having co-operat'ing pressing mem- .bers movable one in relation to the other, a toggle arranged to move one of the pressing members, a foot lever, an upstandlng v arm carried by the foot lever and connecting with the toggle for producing a straightening action o'n the toggle, a lever arm cooperating l-with the footilever and being connected with the aforesaid'toggle and bning movable 'in relation to the foot lever inv suchl a manner that itis inactive during the straightening movement of the toggle but- I subsequently" moves with the foot lever to impart a short movement of great force through the straightened toggle.

v 5.'The combination of a press head; an actuating lever; a movable support constructed and arranged 'to be engaged and moved'V by said actuating lever' in the lfinal portion-of the actuating movement'thereof; a toggle linkage connecting said press-head and support, and capable when straightened, of transmitting motion of said support to said head; a releasable Vconnection between the toggle linkage and the actuatinglever for straightening` the toggle by the initial actuating movement of the actuating lever; and means for releasing said connection as said actuating'lever approachesits limit of actuating movement.

6. A toggle and leverage mechanism for presses havinga press lever, a press head, or a platen to' be worked, comprising a foot lever made in two parts each of which is pivoted relatively to the other, a connection established between -one lever part and the toggle for straighteningthe toggle, and a connection made bnt'v-M "m ALmr lever part and toggle for subsequently transmitting thrust thru the toggle.

7. A toggle and leverage mechanism for preses having a press lever, a press head or a platen carried by the press lever, comprising a toggle connected with the press lever and capable of first4 being straightened to form a strut to transmit'force, a bell-crank, a connection between the bell-crank and .the toggle whereby the toggle is moved into said straightened position, and means for releasing the connection after the toggle is straightened, a lever arm supporting the toggle, a foot lever associated with the lever arm, and means to resolve the lever arm and foot lever linto a one-piece lever for exerting a thrust thru the straightened strutlike toggle subsequent Ato the aforesaid releasing action.

8. 'An operating mechanism for presses of the type having co-operating pressing members movable one in relation to the other, a toggle for opening and closing the pressing members, a bell crank havmg a treadle piece, a link establishing a connection between the bell-crank and the toggle for producing a straightening action on the toggle, a lost-motion connection employed'by the link to permit the bell-crank to continue in motion after the toggle is straightened, and a lever arm made a pal-tof the bell-crank to impart a slow movement of great force through the straightened toggle during continued motion of thebell-crank. y 9. An operating mechanism for presses o the type employing co-operating pressing members `movable one in relation to the other, atoggle .to open and close the press, afoot lever, aconnection made between the foot lever` and toggle to roduce astraightening action on` the togg e, means to render inoperative the connection between the -tog- Agle and foot lever after the toggle is straightened so the foot lever may continue its movement, a relatively short lever arm having connection with the foot lever and having connection with the toggle, said lever arm having a lost-motion connection with the pressing members movable one in relation to .the other, a toggle to operate the pressing members, a foot lever to straighten the toggle, a lever arm carried by the foot lever and having a lost-motion connection with the foot lever and having connection with the toggle, shoulders formed on the foo-t lever and lever arm to take out the lost-motion connection so that the lever arm and foot lever Work in joined relation to impart a movement of great force through the straightened toggle.

11. An operating mechanism for presses of the type having co-operating pressing members movable one in relation to the other, a toggle to close the press through a straightening movement thereof, a foot lever, a connection between the foot lever and toggle for straightening the toggle, a

lever arm connected with -the lioot lever and having a supporting connection with the toggle, means for rendering inoperative the connection between the foot lever and tog le when the toggle reaches a straightene position, means for rendering inoperative the connection between the lever arm and foot lever during the straightening period of the toggle, and means for rendering operative the said connection between the lever arm and foot lever after the toggle is straightened to produce movement through the tog le.

12. T e combinatibn of a press head; a movable actuator; a toggle connected with said press head; a toggle straightening means and a toggle stressing means each connected with said toggle; and lost motion connections betweenl said actuator and said straightening means and between said actuator and said stressing means, constructed and arranged to terminate the straightening action and initiate the stressing aetion at points intermediate the limits of motion of the actuater.

In Witness whereof I hereunto aix my name in the city of New York, this 22nd day of July, 1920.

JAMES o. LEDBETTER. [L a] 

